Middle East crude benchmark Dubai was little changed on Tuesday, underpinned by demand from Vitol, ADNOC and Phillips 66 on the window.

Iraqi Basra crude traded at wider discounts this month to compensate for relatively expensive official selling prices (OSPs), traders said.

Last week, Pertamina sold 1 million barrels of April-loading Basra Medium crude to Vitol at $1.60 a barrel below its OSP without restrictions on destinations via a tender, they said.

Separately, U.S. refiner Marathon bought 1 million barrels of April-loading Basra Medium crude each from Totsa and BP at a discount slightly wider than $1 to its OSP, another trader said.

ARBITRAGE

China’s Rongsheng Petrochemical has bought 6 million barrels of Canadian Access Western Blend (AWB) crude for June delivery at discounts close to $3 a barrel to dated Brent, traders said.

Last month, the refiner bought its first ever Ecuadorean Oriente crude from PetroChina for May delivery, they said.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 1 cent to $1.56 a barrel.

PetroChina will deliver a May-loading Murban crude cargo to Vitol following the deals.

NEWS

Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA has put together three operational scenarios as part of a plan to continue producing and exporting oil at its largest joint venture with Chevron CVX once a license for the U.S. major to operate in the country expires next month, according to a company document seen by Reuters on Monday.

Chevron bought about 4.99% of Hess Corp’s HES common shares this year, reflecting its confidence in completing the planned acquisition of Hess, the oil giant said in a regulatory filing on Monday.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would speak to Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Tuesday morning about ending the Ukraine war, with territorial concessions by Kyiv and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant likely to feature prominently in the talks.
Source: Reuters